Fernando Alonso admits that he has mixed feelings about leaving Scuderia Ferrari – but he cites Felipe Massa’s 2014 results after leaving Maranello as an example that he intends to emulate.

Alonso and team mate Kimi Raikkonen finished the Abu Dhabi GP in ninth and 10th places after one of Ferrari’s worst races of the season.

“It’s mixed feelings,” said the Spaniard. “Obviously I will miss the team, I will miss the guys. There are great people inside. You are always the favourite, you are always in the eyes of the people a contender for the World Championship, and that we didn’t do it is a bad thing. I need to go with some proudness, with the head up, because I fought until the end, every single point, every single race.

“It was a nice experience, every driver should experience driving for Ferrari at least one year, because it’s a unique thing. But I’m looking for better results than 10th. I think it was hard also for Felipe last year after a long relationship to say bye-bye, and he’s second now, on the podium, and we are 10th, so it’s what I’m looking for.”

Regarding his last race for the team he said: “You wish to be on the podium at least or to enjoy it a little bit better. More or less I knew it was going to be tough, because we were not competitive all weekend. We had some fights out there, it was the maximum, and probably summarised how the season was – fighting for not important positions, and try to score some points.”

Meanwhile he was keen to praise former team mate Lewis Hamilton.

“I said on Thursday that any of the two who could be World Champion would be a well deserved champion. Lewis won 11 races this year, he was perfect all season long. He deserved the championship, and I hope he enjoys it. He will be the favourite again next year.”